The first edition, All Music Guide to Jazz: the Best CDs, Albums & Tapes, appeared in 1994 and was edited by Ron Wynn with Michael Erlewine and Vladimir Bogdanov (head of the All Music Guide book series).

Artists are listed alphabetically and include some of the following: birth and death dates, classification (vocals, guitar, drums, etc.

The discography listings include a five star rating, the music label it was released on, and the date as well as possibly reviews of certain albums.

"[4] Also, previous versions have also relied heavily on few reviews to comment on many albums, which "tends to weaken" the book.

[4] The added features are welcomed, since they give readers a "close-up view of the artists" within the jazz culture.